Hershey Displeased with Wolf’s Plan Resulting in Significant Job Loss

Feb. 05, 2019

HARRISBURG – Rep. John Hershey (R-Franklin/Juniata/Mifflin) today joined his colleagues in a joint session of the General Assembly as Gov. Tom Wolf delivered his budget address. He released the following statement on the governor’s vision:

“For the first time since Gov. Tom Wolf has been in office, his budget address did not include a call for broad-based tax increases. It’s welcome news that he’s following the lead of Republicans, who have been advocating for taxpayers for years.

“However, his call for a minimum wage tax increase to $12 an hour and $15 within three years is not something I support as we should be focusing on job creation, not job elimination. In response to one of the governor’s previous calls for a minimum wage increase, the Independent Fiscal Office stated in an April 2018 analysis that increasing the minimum wage to $12 an hour would result in the loss of 33,000 jobs.

“While less than 3 percent of Pennsylvania’s workforce earns minimum wage, families whose breadwinner does should have the opportunity to think about how they can pursue more lucrative opportunities that are available to those with technical training or a degree – not be forced to worry about losing the job they do have.

“As we move forward with the budget process, beginning next week when state agencies make their budget requests to the General Assembly, I will be focused on ensuring that spending never exceeds our revenue, just as the families of the 82nd District do each day.”